Iraqi forces attack Camp Ashraf

Conferences

21 November 2012

Let me just say that the most urgent issue is to deal with Ashraf and Liberty. The performance of the UN over these past few years and continuing today remains utterly unacceptable. Not that it is something new but it has direct impact on the ability of the MEK and the coalition as a whole to be an effective opposition. I think the answer here is very clear. The UN has done itself a grave damage by allowing Martin Kobler to supplant the work of UN high commissioner for refugees; this is damage to the high commissioner. The whole point of the high commissioner is to be separate from national concerns to take out of domestic policies refugee issues to process the refugees to the country of final asylum quickly. The inner position of Martin Kobler has prevented that. That is why I think the Secretary General who oversees the entire UN system needs to take this in his hand and the sooner the better.

Let’s not kid ourselves. I think the secretary of state Clinton did a courageous thing in lifting the terrorist designation. But make no mistake about it; it took courage because she had to her own permanent bureaucracy that still believes that the MEK should be on that list, that still doesn’t believe the MEK is the legitimate opposition group, that still is on the grip of the idea that the regime in Tehran has enough legitimacy to deal with. Until that mentality in the permanent bureaucracy is dealt with effectively it will remain a problem for the Iranian opposition in America to take holds.

I think it is very clear in the American context, you know we are a country with very diverse backgrounds. We have more political influence and political involvement by the citizens in the formulation of our foreign policy than any other countries in the world including any other democracy. Many governments even in Europe find that unusual but that’s the way we do business. We have enormous Iranian American in diaspora, people who have come to America and have done well but have never forgotten the condition in their homeland. This is the base that rally to an effective opposition and one of the reasons everybody says why Madam Rajavi coming to America is potentially so important.

In the meantime as the opposition breaks free of the lingering effects of terrorist designation, it is also critical for the US and Europe not to do anything more to legitimize the regime in Tehran.

We can see today, even as we meet, how the regime in Tehran tries to effect policies throughout the Middle East. Just in the past few days the terrorist organization Hamas has fired rockets, not just hundreds of other rockets it fired in the Israel, but has fired rockets at Jerusalem. These rockets are Fajr-5 rockets. They are built in Iran and undoubtedly supplied by the regime in Tehran to Hamas.

I think we understand what Hamas is trying to show when it firs rockets at Jerusalem. They could well hit Israeli targets to show that Hamas has this capability. But what else could those rockets hit. They don’t have good guidance systems. There is no telling where they land once they are launched. Those rockets, those Iranian supplied rockets could kill innocent Palestinians. They could land on the Haram Al-Sharif. They could damage the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. How can Hamas say legitimately that it upholds the tenet of Islam when it threatens such holy sites through indiscriminate use of these terrorist rockets? What does it tell you about the cynicism of the mullahs in Tehran that they would give terrorist Hamas this capability to put Palestinians in jeopardy from the sky and the risk of destruction of holy sites?

This is the way the government in Tehran performs on a daily basis. Anything that is done to provide that government with enhanced legitimacy simply strengthens its hold on power, lengthens the time to oppress the Iranian people, and pushes us to a greater configuration throughout the Middle East.

This of course raises the critical question of the Iranian nuclear weapons program which every day gets closer to the mullahs 21-year objective of deliverable nuclear weapons. Here there is a particular responsibility for the US and Europe not to give the government in Tehran a legitimate agreement that allows them to continue this nuclear threat. This is a matter of real urgency, ladies and gentlemen. The agreement with Tehran is visible in front of us. We have already heard it in both Europe and the US. It goes simply that Iran gives up, or at least says it gives up, the program to enrich uranium to a 20% concentration U235 isotope, it agrees to admit more inspectors from the international atomic energy agency in exchange for which it gets the unlimited right to enrich uranium to reactor level of 3 to 5% enrichment and it gets economic sanctions lifted or at least substantially eased.

Let’s not kid ourselves how close we are to this agreement. Europe has just entered a second cord of economic contraction. That is the definition of a recession. The US stands on the edge of what we call a fiscal cliff because of tax expending policies that have to be resolved by the end of the year. The economies of Europe and the US remain very fragile. The temptation to say let’s eliminate the economic sanctions, let’s cut this deal with Iran, let’s declare a victory and forget about it is very real.

Ladies and gentlemen, this deal would be a disaster for Iran, for the Middle East, and for the world. There is effectively no reason to give Iran any legitimacy to enrich uranium to any level. The regime is pursuing nuclear weapons. It is already violated its solemn obligations under the non-proliferation treaty. This regime cannot be trusted with a nuclear program. If we allow them to enrich to any levels, you will find that they are violating the conditions of that agreement in ways we can’t possibly detect no matter what they say about additional IAEA inspectors.

Once the sanctions are reduced or eliminated it would be difficult if not possible to put them back in place. The temptation for politicians, European or American, to enter this deal is going to be very substantial. In the next few months as we see the Middle East in turmoil, it would be critical to explain that the only way you could trust Iran with a peaceful nuclear program of any kind is to change the regime in Tehran and get a regime that reflects the will of Iranian people.